Thrifty Banker
  • Politics
  • Business
  • World
  • Investing
  • Politics
  • Business
  • World
  • Investing

Thrifty Banker

Business

Extreme heat set to drive home cooling costs to 10-year high, advocates warn

by June 4, 2024
June 4, 2024
Extreme heat set to drive home cooling costs to 10-year high, advocates warn

The average cost of keeping an American home cool from June to September is set to hit $719, nearly 8% higher than last year, according to new projections from advocates for low-income households. That level would be the highest in a decade, and a steep jump from the $573 average in 2021.

Organizations distributing federal financial support expect they’ll be able to help roughly 1 million fewer families pay their energy bills this year. That’s partly because government funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) fell from $6.1 billion last fiscal year to $4.1 billion for the current one, the National Energy Assistance Directors Association (NEADA) and the Center for Energy, Poverty and Climate said in a report released Monday.

“It’s inflation in the sense that you have to spend more to cool your house, but you’re using more of it,” said Mark Wolfe, executive director of NEADA, which represents state directors who manage federal aid dollars for home energy costs. “So you can’t blame the price. This is more the price of climate change.”

2024 is expected to rank among the five warmest years in recorded history, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has said, and this year has a 61% chance of being the hottest on record. Already last month, scorching heat and humidity descended on parts of Texas, the Gulf Coast and South Florida.

Last summer, too, was severely hot. Phoenix, for example, endured a record-breaking 31 consecutive days of temperatures at or above 110 degrees Fahrenheit.

Electric costs this summer will vary geographically, from as low as $581 on average for the season in Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, to as high as $858 in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana, the report said. While bills in the latter region are forecast to rise only 1.8%, the mid-Atlantic is expected to see a 12% increase in summer electric bills since last season.

Many households face imminent risks, the report said, from taking on debt to finance their cooling bills to suffering potentially dangerous utility shut-offs for nonpayment. Only 17 states and Washington, D.C., offer residents some protections against shut-offs, the report said, and nearly 1 in 5 “very low income” families have no home air conditioning at all.

LIHEAP was originally devised to help low-income residents cover their heating bills during cold winter months. But soaring summertime temperatures have added pressure to the program. This year about 80% of its funds will cover heating expenses, leaving just 20% to supplement cooling bills, the advocacy groups estimated.

“These estimates could, in fact, understate the final costs of home cooling this summer if temperatures continue to reach record levels,” the report warned.

LIHEAP administrators in many states have been sounding alarms in recent years over higher seasonal temperatures, saying rising summertime demand is outstripping the available funding. Unlike safety-net programs like Medicaid or food stamps, LIHEAP can’t guarantee support to all qualifying households. If demand is too high, funds can simply run out.

Brian Sarensen, who manages Washington state’s LIHEAP aid, previously described “the Catch-22 of trying to provide everything to everybody that needs it, and just not having enough money to do so.”

“We may be sacrificing how much heating assistance we give in the winter to hold over for the summer,” he told NBC News last summer, when a series of blistering heat waves drove up air conditioning usage across the country. “But at the same time, then you’re thinking: Am I leaving somebody to freeze to death?”

Some relief could come this year in states that are offering residents income-based subsidies on their electricity bills, Wolfe said.

For example, there’s Connecticut — a state in the Northeast, where electricity generation is generally more expensive for utilities — which launched a financial hardship program last December allowing consumers to avoid shut-offs and receive monthly discounts of either 10% or 50% depending on their income.

Already, though, ballooning energy bills are squeezing the least well-off, the report warned. Researchers found 23.5% of households couldn’t pay their energy bill for at least one month over the past year, up from 21.3% the year before. The steepest jump was among households with children, rising to 33.1% from 28.4% in the prior period.

To cover energy bills, many low-income families are making difficult cutbacks elsewhere. More than 1 in 3 said they reduced or went without basic household expenses at least once in the last 12 months due to energy costs, with the biggest increase again among those with kids — for a rate of 41.5%.

“We’re now approaching a period where people can’t just sweat it out,” said Wolfe. “It’s pretty grim.”

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS
0
FacebookTwitterGoogle +Pinterest
previous post
NYSE says technical issue fixed after Berkshire Hathaway wrongly falls 99%
next post
Former Brexit leader Nigel Farage is running in UK election, wants to ‘make Britain great again’

Related Posts

Kia and Hyundai recall 3.37 million vehicles in...

September 28, 2023

UAW strike expands again as union says it...

October 24, 2023

Welcome to the housing market’s ‘new normal’ —...

February 26, 2024

Retail sales slumped 0.9% in January, down much...

February 15, 2025

Nvidia CEO Huang says AI has to do...

March 1, 2025

Maker of Hershey’s, Jeni’s, and Friendly’s ice cream...

June 26, 2024

Judge blocks JetBlue-Spirit merger in a major win...

January 17, 2024

The IRS will pursue business private jet usage...

February 22, 2024

N.Y. Fed President John Williams says inflation is...

June 1, 2024

Disney accused of withholding hundreds of millions of...

August 16, 2023

    Sign up for our newsletter to receive the latest insights, updates, and exclusive content straight to your inbox! Whether it's industry news, expert advice, or inspiring stories, we bring you valuable information that you won't find anywhere else. Stay connected with us!


    By opting in you agree to receive emails from us and our affiliates. Your information is secure and your privacy is protected.

    Popular

    • 1

      Top 10 Countries for Natural Gas Production (Updated 2024)

      April 6, 2024
    • 2

      Understanding Lithium Mineralogy from an Investment Perspective

      September 12, 2023
    • 3

      US Capital Global Facilitates $50MM Financing to Accelerate Charbone Hydrogen’s North American Expansion

      June 6, 2025
    • 4

      Israel confirms it is arming Hamas rivals in operation opposition calls ‘complete madness’

      June 6, 2025
    • 5

      A GOP operative accused a monastery of voter fraud. Nuns fought back.

      January 3, 2025
    • 6

      Crypto Market Recap: Strategy Eyes US$1B Raise for Bitcoin Push, UK Regulator Reverses ETN Ban

      June 6, 2025
    • 7

      China’s aircraft carriers send message in the open Pacific for the first time – and bigger and more powerful ships are coming

      June 16, 2025

    Categories

    • Business (1,053)
    • Investing (2,079)
    • Politics (2,977)
    • Uncategorized (20)
    • World (3,387)
    • About us
    • Contact us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms & Conditions

    Disclaimer: thriftybanker.com, its managers, its employees, and assigns (collectively “The Company”) do not make any guarantee or warranty about what is advertised above. Information provided by this website is for research purposes only and should not be considered as personalized financial advice. The Company is not affiliated with, nor does it receive compensation from, any specific security. The Company is not registered or licensed by any governing body in any jurisdiction to give investing advice or provide investment recommendation. Any investments recommended here should be taken into consideration only after consulting with your investment advisor and after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company.

    Copyright © 2025 thriftybanker.com | All Rights Reserved